Folding Mug Handles, DIY.

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pwb

Full Member
Had ago at making some folding handles for a stainless steel Morrisons kitchen container the other day.

The handles and brackets are made from recycled materials, some used aluminium sheet and a bit of old mild steel fence wire.
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To fix the handles on I tried some copper harness rivets and setting tool which are normally used on leather, surprisingly they seem to do the job pretty well and got a nice old fashioned look too. I was a bit doubtful that the mix of aluminium, stainless and copper would remain water tight when heated but have used the pot a few times on a Coleman Peak stove at full blast and now on a hobo and still no leaks :) .

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Also made up a new lid as the original was very tight and bulky.
At a future date it maybe worth trying the same thing on another pot but using stainless rod and ali rivets .

Pete.
 

pwb

Full Member
do the rivets have any problems with trapping food on the inside ?.

Hi,

There is a slight ridge mostly on the bottom rivets ,not sure whether trapping food would be a problem though.
Tried to get them as flat as possible , put the pot over the beak of the anvil when riveting. The harness rivets are not ideal as they are counter sunk so need to be flattened out around the edges a bit, kind of why I'd like to try some flat headed aluminium rivets.
Cheers,
Pete.
 

mountainm

Bushcrafter through and through
Jan 12, 2011
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www.mikemountain.co.uk
be careful of those copper rivets.. Cooking with bare copper is potentially dangerous - that is to say, it is not the copper itself that is poisonous but the reaction formed between the copper and the acidity of the food (I think you end up with copper sulphate or other toxic copper salts)
 

yomperalex

Nomad
Jan 22, 2011
260
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be careful of those copper rivets.. Cooking with bare copper is potentially dangerous - that is to say, it is not the copper itself that is poisonous but the reaction formed between the copper and the acidity of the food (I think you end up with copper sulphate or other toxic copper salts)

Could be a pertinent point.

but I still like the idea, and the work you have done - so what do you guys think about using a heat proof adhesive instead?

Alex
 
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slaine_23

Member
Jun 25, 2021
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4
Ireland
If drilling holes into the pot then can see the need for rivets.
If fixing the handles using a plate fitted to outside of pot then I suppose a suitable heat resistant epoxy would do the trick? Does such a thing exist?
For rivets, they’d have to be food safe, steel for a steel pot, alu for alu pot?
 

Toddy

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Jan 21, 2005
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Old brass marlin pans (jelly pans) actually slowly leached tiny amounts of copper into the jam/jelly. This was not harmful and was a good thing because it inhibited mould growth in the jam.

Similarly iron; in some countries women are being encouraged to cook with an 'iron fish' in the pot, so that the food ends up with tiny amounts of the iron. This enriches their otherwise deficient diet.
 
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slaine_23

Member
Jun 25, 2021
12
4
Ireland
Old brass marlin pans (jelly pans) actually slowly leached tiny amounts of copper into the jam/jelly. This was not harmful and was a good thing because it inhibited mould growth in the jam.

Similarly iron; in some countries women are being encouraged to cook with an 'iron fish' in the pot, so that the food ends up with tiny amounts of the iron. This enriches their otherwise deficient diet.
I’ve heard of the iron deficiency problem and that people should not use nonstick or aluminium pots because of the trace amounts of iron coming from the cooking pot. Never heard of the iron fish before, interesting.
 
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Pattree

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Jul 19, 2023
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I’ve heard of the iron deficiency problem and that people should not use nonstick or aluminium pots because of the trace amounts of iron coming from the cooking pot.
I think the worry there is worn out non stick exposing aluminium.
There was a fuss a while ago about trace aluminium affecting the nervous system. The fuss went away and aluminium ware it’s readily available in shops so I guess all is well.
 

Toddy

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Jan 21, 2005
38,937
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S. Lanarkshire
Years ago, a lot of years ago, we had a kind of 'show us your hobo stove' photo filled thread.

Seeing @pwb 's thread reopened brought it to mind.

Those hobo stoves were fun to make, fun to develop, and good to use too.

I think photobucket's change rather killed the thread, but there must still be a lot of the hobo stoves about.

Mine hasn't been used in a while, but I'm tempted to dig it out and do a brew up, just because I can :)

Iron fish though;
 
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